having troubles with ph, help a new grower!

[klemer13]

I am haveing a hard time keeping my ph above 5.5. I have PH up and down, i ph my water to about a 6.6 every time but the runoff from wheb i water is somewhere along the lines of 5.4-5.8.
any suggestions? im using 40% peatmoss 10% castings, and 25% perlite and vermiculite. chemical 'quick grow' nutes.
ill post pictures of one of my girls, she doesnt look very well while the other 4 are very healthy.

 

[klemer13]

ppms from runoff range from 900-1100

 

[klemer13]

This girl is in 4th week veg, ph from runiff is 5.5, water i am adding is 6.5, 1400 ppm nute mix
if any other info is needed let me know. thanks!

 

[klemer13]

and these are the nutes,
CaMg 5ml / L
QuickGrow Part 1 (1-2-5) 5ml / L
QuickMix Part 2 (2-0-0) 6ml / L
Maximum Plantroids (2-1-1) 1ml / L
Super B+ (0-1-2) 1ml / L
PH up & down

 

[bakelite]

Are you using any Dolomitic lime in your soil mix? The peat would be pretty acidic by itself if it hasn't been neutralized with lime.

 

[klemer13]

i havent used dolomitic lime. i have brought up to 6 by flushing a lot. the plants look a lot healthier and they have been flowering for 3 days. pics to come.

 

[Dream Time]

It's the peat moss that is causing the pH issue. Try running some of your water through just peat moss and then test the leach and you'll see just how acidic peat moss is. As bakelite mentioned, you could use dolomite lime. In future grows, you might want to reduce the percentage of peat moss in your mix - maybe start with 10% peat moss and then test your leach and adjust the amount of peat moss until you get the pH you want.

 

[klemer13]

yes the runoff ph is acidic, i think i can get away with it this time, next ill probably use a fertile soil mix so that i dont fuck up with the nutes, any good mixes available?
also i mistakenly said 40% peat, i really meant promix BH my bad.

 

[firehound]

LIME

LIME

Lowes, Home Depot, etc will still have home gardening stuff stuck over in a corner somewhere in the store. They got Ph up and Down Powder. or 1 day at a time only! if your runoff is at the 5 ph mark pour some 6.o ph water thru the affected plants, put a fan circulating on the pots for a day or 2 , when pots r light again use h2o that is a 0.5ph higher than the last h20 u used to slowly bring that ph up in the pot ...without shocking it too bad...damage has already been done. now let the healing begin. gonna take a wk or so. worth a try.

 

[klemer13]

firehound, been using ph up liquid is all my water, always making sure that the ph is 6.2-6.5.
I think it could be that i dont have r/o water and dont let my tap water sit for 24hrs. sulphur build up in the soil maybe? i may have to add some dolomite lime to the next batch of soil i make, gunna use up the whole promix bale, then find a better more fertile mix.
as i have said its my first grow of any plant! it will be a learning experience trying to see what works for me. I really appreciate all the help guys.
Pictures tomorrow from my good camera

 

[firehound]

pro-mix bale #4 already has lime in it. the leaf in the top pic looks like mag. defeciency. but rest of those ladies look good. hope it corrects itself. did u post this in the infirmary section, you should. LOTS of really smart guys,gals on here! give it a try

 

[klemer13]

Been very busy during the holiday season.
The room is filling out quite nicely and seem to have the ph under control
Will post individual pictures when the lights go out.

 

[klemer13]

week 4 flower